Drug Raid Links Myanmar Army Chief’s Children to Notorious Weapons Dealer

Assets belonging to the adult children of Myanmar's military junta leader were discovered by Thai officials in a dawn drug raid in Bangkok, highlighting links between the army general and notorious criminal arms dealer Tun Min Latt.

Thai police arrested 53-year-old Tun Min Latt at his apartment on Sept. 17, 2022, and subsequently indicted him on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and transnational organised crime. Shortly after his arrest, police seized an estimated $50 million worth of assets including cash, cars, luxury watches, brand-name handbags, and real estate. 

Activist group Justice For Myanmar, who first reported details of the raid on Wednesday, also revealed that authorities seized the title of a luxury, four-bedroom condominium belonging to Aung Pyae Sone, and bank passbooks belonging to Khin Thiri Thet Mon—the son and daughter, respectively, of Myanmar leader and military general Min Aung Hlaing.

Min Aung Hlaing, 66, installed himself as Myanmar’s de facto leader in Feb. 1 2021, when he launched a military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government and seized control of the country. He also stands accused of orchestrating a genocide against the Rohingya since 2017, when the Myanmar military began a violent campaign in Rakhine State that has seen thousands killed and almost one million displaced to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Since the coup, junta forces have arbitrarily detained more than 17,000 people and killed at least 2,700, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In response to the coup and the subsequent killings of protestors, the U.S. imposed sanctions not only against Min Aung Hlaing, but also his children Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon—claiming they had businesses that “directly benefited from their father’s position and malign influence.” 

The finding of title deeds and bankbooks now links the family to the current criminal proceedings against Tun Min Latt, but also raises questions as to how they paid for such assets in the first place.

“It is significant that both of Min Aung Hlaing’s children are close associates of an accused international criminal, and that their possessions were found at a crime scene,” Yadanar Maung, a Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, told VICE World News. “Thai authorities should urgently seize Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s assets and widen their investigation to the source of the funds for the condo and bank accounts.”

It’s understood that neither Aung Pyae Sone nor Khin Thiri Thet Mon face any legal action in relation to the assets. And at the time of writing, Thai police have not expanded their investigation to their potential connections with Tun Min Latt.

Thai police confirmed with VICE World News that Tun Min Latt remains in custody on money laundering and drug trafficking charges, but they refused to comment further on the case.

“If Min Aung Hlaing’s family have benefited from the proceeds of Tun Min Latt’s alleged crimes,” Maung said, “then they need to be held accountable under Thai law.”

Maung added that the raid further indicates that members of the junta elite and their relatives may be hiding illegally acquired wealth in the Thai financial system. Justice for Myanmar and others suggest that this raises further questions about the integrity of Thai banks and their potential complicity in the junta’s war crimes. 

“These findings demonstrate that sanctioned family members of the most senior leader of the Myanmar junta could have been relying on a dubious enabler with alleged links to international criminal networks to invest their wealth in Thailand, while the junta led an atrocious civil war on their own people,” Justyna Gudzowska, director of Illicit Finance Policy at investigative watchdog The Sentry, told VICE World News.

“Thai banks, like other regional and global financial institutions, need to ensure they act effectively as gatekeepers to the international financial system… identifying and stopping inflows from Myanmar of funds tainted by their association with war criminals.”

Tun Min Latt is known as an arms broker for the Myanmar junta, with a history of providing support and procuring supplies—including Israeli reconnaissance drones and aircraft parts—for the military regime, according to Justice for Myanmar and Reuters.

He conducts his business activities through the Star Sapphire Group of Companies, an organisation that was sanctioned by the U.K after being found “responsible for the brokering of deals for military goods.” The firm also built the notorious Allure casino: a venue located in the Thai-Myanmar border town of Tachileik, associated with money laundering and drug trafficking, according to Justice for Myanmar.

Human rights advocates say it’s unsurprising that members of the junta elite and their families might be affiliated with illegal enterprises and figures like Tun Min Latt, given the military’s ongoing human rights violations within Myanmar itself.

Matthew Smith, CEO of the human rights group Fortify Rights, described the junta as a “terrorist enterprise” that “needs to be fully investigated and held accountable from top to bottom.” 

“It’s not surprising that Min Aung Hlaing and his children would be linked in these ways with organised criminal activity,” Smith told VICE World News, adding that Myanmar military is the “region’s largest and most brutal transnational criminal syndicate, masquerading as a national army.” 

“The Thai authorities mustn’t shy away from investigating Min Aung Hlaing and his children and holding them accountable if necessary.” 

Follow Gavin Butler on Twitter.